The Miracle Mile is the third album by Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle

Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle

Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle are a Canadian band consisting of Barenaked Ladies multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn as the front man , bassist Chris Gartner and drummer Great Bob Scott. The three had previously collaborated as members of the Canadian alternative rock band The Look People...

. It was released in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and online July 11, 2006. The first single from the album will be "In The Country". This is the band's first album on the Warner Music Canada

Warner Music Canada

Warner Music Canada is the Canadian division of Warner Music Group. The label previously operated as WEA Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of WEA International, which later changed its name to Warner Music International in 1990. It was founded in 1967 as Warner Reprise Canada Ltd...

 label. The album is billed as a collection of songs that explore dreams and disappointments, love and loss.

At least part of the album was written during a stay in downtown Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 on a particularly famous stretch of the Wilshire Boulevard

Wilshire Boulevard

Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

 between Fairfax

Fairfax Avenue

Fairfax Avenue is a street on north central Los Angeles, California. It runs from La Cienega Boulevard with Culver City at its southern end to Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood on its northern end.Fairfax Avenue forms the western boundary of Hancock Park as well as Park La Brea, an 160 acre ,...

 and Western Avenues known as the Miracle Mile

Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California

The Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, California, is an area in the Mid-Wilshire region consisting of an almost two-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Western Avenues...

. The album contains songwriting collaborations with Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...

 and Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...

 bandmate Steven Page

Steven Page

Steven Jay Page , is a Canadian musician. Along with Ed Robertson, he was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies ; he left the band in 2009 to pursue a solo career....

. It also features a string arrangement from Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....

 on the title track.

The album is the first for band member Brian MacMillan. Former member Derek Orford, while not credited as a full band member, performs on four tracks as a musical guest. Other musical guests include Kurt Swinghammer

Kurt Swinghammer

Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist.A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design, Swinghammer joined the band Vital Sines in the 1980s before launching his solo career...

, Kevin Fox, Jim Creeggan

Jim Creeggan

James Raymond Creeggan, better known as Jim Creeggan , is the bassist for Canadian band Barenaked Ladies...

, Selina Martin, Jennifer Foster, and co-producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda

Michael Phillip Wojewoda

-External links:*...

.

The album was released in Canada in various online digital stores, and as a physical CD. Like the band's first two releases, the physical release was packaged in a Digipak

Digipak

Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...

. Unlike those releases, however, it was a three-panel (double-fold) Digipak, and no liner notes

Liner notes

Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...

booklet was included.

Track listing

1. "Rescue Us" (Hearn/Sexsmith) – 3:37
2. "Lancaster Bomber" (Hearn) – 4:24
3. "Map of the Human Genome" (Hearn) – 4:29
4. "In the Country" (Hearn) – 2:54
5. "Southbound" (Hearn/Orford) – 3:16
6. "Here for You" (Hearn/Sexsmith) – 4:16
7. "The Good Times Virus" (Hearn/Page) – 3:21
8. "High and Low" (Hearn/Sexsmith) – 3:58
9. "Statue of Los Angeles" (Hearn) – 3:05
10. "Hollow" (Hearn) – 3:13
11. "The Miracle Mile" (Hearn) – 5:08